Business meetings are often goal-directed, in that they are called for a specific purpose, and an agenda for conducting a meeting is typically defined that satisfies the meeting's purpose. Historically, it has been common for a planner or presenter to distribute paper copies of the agenda, in some cases together with copies of other supporting materials relating to the agenda.
More recently, software applications for preparing presentation documents have become generally available. Such applications make it easy for a typical computer user to construct a multiple-page visual presentation that can be projected and advanced throughout the meeting for viewing by all participants. Such presentations can include information that might have otherwise been provided in a written agenda or accompanying supporting documents, or that might not have been provided at all, such as relevant photographs or video clips. Such presentations can also be used for a variety of other visual subject matter not relating to agendas or meetings.
In general, most presentations generated using such applications are textual outlines of the agenda, which often contain such constructs as lists and outlines. Although it is technically possible to use such applications to generate presentations that present information using more eye-catching business graphics, in practice this capability is seldom used. Failure to use this capability may be explained by the fact that designing such business graphics typically requires both a strong graphical eye and a sense of the different graphical designs which may be used, or by the fact that executing such business graphics typically requires significant drawing talent, time, and patience.
A few software applications enable a user to insert an empty pregenerated business graphic, which the user can edit to add textual content, or add, delete, or rearrange elements of the graphic. Using this functionality, however, can require significant effort on the part of the user, who must manually map text to each element or subelement of the graphic, type this text in the appropriate place, and modify the structure of the graphic to match the structure desired.